Copper Dome Chronicle: 2023 Session Week 6

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Copper Dome Chronicle, sponsored by Advocatus. We strive for substantive writing with brevity, inspired by the book Smart Brevity; one of the best books about communications and writing we’ve read in years.

This week’s edition, covering February 13-17, 2023, is 1,221 words or a 5 minute read.

1. Senate Works Its Calendar

The Senate spent the week working through its calendar. Some legislation that received third reading included S.33, a bill to require liability insurance of at least $50,000 on watercraft with more than 70 horsepower; S.96, a bill to require boating safety training; and S.380, a bill creating a guardianship assistance program for licensed kinship caregivers, a priority for the Department of Social Services. South Carolina is only one of ten states that does not have this program. Next week the Senate appears set to debate S.153, a bill to address fentanyl trafficking, which is one of the Senate Republican Caucus legislative priorities for 2023.

2. Abortion Bill Consumes House Time

In Week 5, we detailed how the Senate’s week was consumed by S.474, a bill to regulate abortion in South Carolina after the State Supreme Court ruled current abortion laws unconstitutional on a 3-2 vote on January 5, 2023. The Senate consumed 9 hours, 39 minutes of floor time on the bill.

In Week 6 the House spent 5 hours, 10 minutes debating H.3774, their primary vehicle to address abortion laws. The bill received a second reading on a 83-31 vote and third reading on a 77-31 vote. The bill was sent to the Senate and referred to the Senate Medical Affairs Committee.

The two bills are very different and during the debate in both chambers, members made mention of the other chamber and why the other chamber’s legislation was imperfect or inadequate. The next step in the legislative process is for one of the chambers to debate and pass the other chamber’s bill as a vehicle for a conference committee, most likely striking all the language and inserting the second chamber’s text. Example: the Senate could take up H.3774, insert the text of S.474 as passed by the Senate, vote on it and send it back to the House. Both bills create and amend text in Title 44, so germaneness shouldn’t be a concern (though germaneness is more than just the code title). But it’s not clear which chamber will make the next move and if the two chambers can bridge the significant policy differences between the bills this session.

3. Comptroller General Is On The Hot Seat

Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom and staff from his agency were on the hot seat before a Senate Finance subcommittee regarding an error discovered showing the state’s total cash account balance had been overstated by $3.5 billion. The state’s financial statements have been corrected with this new information and it won’t affect the FY 2023-2024 appropriations bill. However, the subcommittee had several pointed questions for the Comptroller General as it spent nearly 3.5 hours on February 16 holding a hearing on the matter.

The most insightful testimony given was by Ms. Katherine Kip, a fiscal manager with the Comptroller General and who has previous experience in the Office of the State Treasurer. Ms. Kip was able to explain the who, what, where, when, why, and how of this matter in easily understood language. She testified it took her nine months of work to discover and verify the overstatement. Ms. Kip’s initiative is an example of a state employee going above and beyond their normal duties to resolve a problem and correct it.

4. Bill Introductions

H.3952/H.3953 - Both bills were introduced by House Speaker Murrell Smith and many other members. The two bills are tied together via the Commission on Consumer Affairs, which is currently not a cabinet agency. H.3953 would create the Department of Consumer Affairs, eliminating the commission, and placing the agency under the Governor who would appoint an agency administrator with advice and consent of the Senate. H.3592 is a cleanup bill to confirm the code section to H.3593, but amends existing law regarding the disclosure of a closing fee when purchasing a motor vehicle from a dealership. The last big debate on closing fees was in 2016, resulting in the passage of Act 231.

H.3948/H.3949 - Introduced by Rep. Nathan Ballentine, both bills regulate the tax treatment of solar energy equipment, facilities, and devices. H.3948 exempts them from property taxes and H.3949 exempts them from sales tax.

H.3989 - Introduced by Rep. Russell Ott and others, this bill regulates the permitting, siting, and development of solar energy facilities on agricultural land. This is seen by some as one way to increase renewable energy production in rural areas by locating small, sometimes modular, solar energy facilities on working farms. The farmland in question would remain classified as agricultural use for taxation purposes, though if the farmland in question is used for timber it would not be considered “farmland” for the purposes of this bill.

S.533 - A bill introduced by Senate President Thomas Alexander and 20 cosponsors including Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey and Senate Finance Chair Harvey Peeler, this is the Senate bill to address joint and several liability. It is the companion bill to H.3933 introduced by Rep. Mark Smith.

S.545 - Introduced by Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey and Senator Chip Campsen, this bill addresses what is a touchy subject under the copper dome: the Carolina Panthers failed plan to build a practice facility in Rock Hill. When the Panthers selected Rock Hill in 2019 there was much enthusiasm in state government as this was seen as a huge win over North Carolina. Now, after months of wrangling by local governments and the state over what the Panthers owe for canceling the project, this bill may be the last loose end to tie up. But no one should expect Panthers owner David Tepper to receive an Order of the Palmetto or Order of the Silver Crescent any time soon (he hasn’t received them anyways).

S.547 - Introduced by Sen. Mike Reichenbach and others, the bill addresses emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and those who die while serving in the line of duty. The bill addresses the lowering of flags in remembrance of an EMT, lump sum payments to the next of kin in the event of a death in the line of duty, surviving spouse retirement income and other benefits, and children of the deceased EMT are able to receive four years of tuition-free undergraduate education at any South Carolina public institution of higher education.

Because the bill amends several sections of the code in different titles, the sponsors may want to consider adding a clause that the General Assembly finds the sections presented constitute one subject, so as to not run afoul of the constitutional requirement for one subject legislation. Such a clause could state, “The General Assembly finds that the sections presented in this act constitute one subject as required by Section 17, Article III of the South Carolina Constitution, in particular finding that each change and each topic relates directly to or in conjunction with other sections to the subject of emergency medical technicians as clearly enumerated in the title. The General Assembly further finds that a common purpose or relationship exists among the sections, representing a potential plurality but not disunity of topics, notwithstanding that reasonable minds might differ in identifying more than one topic contained in the act.”

Thanks for reading; we welcome your feedback and commentary!